


Rising Sun

by GaiusDumplingAreBestDumplings



Category: Tales of Xillia
Genre: Gaius may be OOC, How Do I Tag, I don't know what to call this, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Rowen knows what's up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2016-10-22
Packaged: 2018-08-23 23:38:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8347276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaiusDumplingAreBestDumplings/pseuds/GaiusDumplingAreBestDumplings
Summary: He was like the rising sun. He shone a radiant light on his dark world and filled him with the sweet promise of hope. When he showed up, the world lit up and was filled with glory, filled with beauty, and when he left, the world would be obscure once more. So dark that he could no longer feel his own heart. Such was the case of a man named Erston Outway and a boy named Jude Mathis.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo, yeah.
> 
> Basically I wrote this a long time ago and was too embarrassed to post it. It's not even that bad, I just felt so awkward rereading it and thinking, "Wow. I wrote this. This is what I wrote."
> 
> I don't know if I have to say this here or not (I'm still new here) but I don't own Tales of Xillia or anything... so...yeah

He was like the rising sun. He shone a radiant light on his dark world and filled him with the sweet promise of hope. When he showed up, the world lit up and was filled with glory, filled with beauty, and when he left, the world would be obscure once more. So dark that he could no longer feel his own heart. Such was the case of a man named Erston Outway and a boy named Jude Mathis.

Once again, the world woke up in the morning that day, just like it had always done. After all, time waits for no one, does it? However, even in the dazzling sunlight, Gaius' world was dark. He had not known when it started or what it was like before, but just a few months ago, he had realized it. Just a few months ago, he had made a promise. He remembered giving in to that incredible boy after having been defeated. That boy, he thought. Jude Mathis. He would never forget that name or that face. 

The moment he first met him, he had thought of him as ''Milla's puppy dog" and in his head, that had become his own inside joke. It was when he saw him first after Milla's death when he saw a sliver of something more. He couldn't remember exactly what he felt, but it was immense strength hidden deep within, dying to burst out. "Milla's bulldog", he decided. He wished he had noticed at that time what the boy had planted in the depths of his heart. Their last encounter was when he was defeated and when Milla had become Maxwell. He remembered everything down to the very last detail. That was when the seed in his heart had sprouted.

That was the last Gaius saw of the boy known as Jude Mathis. He had not realized at that time the events that would follow. Ilbert the Conductor had become his Prime Minister and he was now ruling over all of Rieze Maxia. Even with all the work to be done and how busy he became, somehow he still ended up thinking about Jude every chance he had. One day, it got out of hand when he woke up from a dream about the boy. He couldn't stand it! He hadn't realized he'd been waiting for Jude to come see him. It was like every moment was a reminder that he would never mean as much to him as Milla did, and still does. He couldn't help but feel a part of him was lost. A part he didn't know he had in the first place.

Because ever since he first met those amber eyes, his world was filled with a light he forgot it lost.

"...And then we have a rendezvous with some Elympion reporters from the Daily Trigleph before visiting Helioborg..." Rowen went on. Gaius was listening half-heartedly, his thoughts elsewhere entirely, which had never happened before ever since he became king. "Ahem, Your Highness, are you alright?" Rowen inquired. "Perfectly fine, now, let us get down to buisness, shall we?" Gaius replied. He would just have to concentrate on work. He had far too much to do to think about silly things like his feelings towards Jude.

On the train to Trigleph, Rowen felt it best to go over the events planned for the day one more time as Gaius just stared out the window, taking in how different Elympios was from Rieze Maxia. Even though he'd been here often, it always caught his attention. "Honestly, I am quite excited to see what Jude has been up to these past few months," This statement piqued Gaius' interest and he turned to Rowen, surprised. "Hohoho, that's quite an expression you're making, Your Highness," Rowen said in good humor. "Nevermind that... what were you saying about Jude?" Gaius asked, trying to regain his composure. "Well, aren't we visiting Helioborg to see how the spyrite research is going? Were you even listening when I was telling you about our schedule?" Rowen said slyly. Gaius cleared his voice, "Of course I was, it just took me by surprise when you mentioned Jude... It has been a while since I've heard that name," Gaius replied, trying to hide the fact that he indeed hadn't listened. Rowen eyed him for a while before letting it slide, he just chuckled to himself. The rest of the trip was pretty much silent.

The interview for the Daily Trigleph seemed painstakingly long. The whole day seemed like it was slowing down, just so Gaius could prolong his nervousness and agony, waiting to visit Jude at Helioborg. "Are you sure you are alright, Your Highness, you seem tired," Rowen said, concerned, as they had just finished up the interview. "We can skip Helioborg until you are feeling well, if you wish. I talked to Jude via GHS and he says that they can always just send a report of their progress," Rowen continued. "No. You planned this trip so we could deduct our own conclusions from the work and see it for ourselves... to get a better feel of the work being done, did you not?" Gaius insisted. Rowen gave him a look before saying under his breath, "I'm sure that's the only reason," Gaius shot him a glance and Rowen just smiled like he hadn't said anything. So off they headed to Helioborg.

As they entered, they were greeted by a woman with glasses. "H-hello... I! I mean, Welcome! Your Highness, Prime Minister! I-I'm Mary and I'm part of the spyrite project..." The woman stuttered and looked down at her feet nervously. "Pleased to meet you, Mary. May I ask if you know a man named Jude Mathis, by any chance?" Rowen inquired. It was subtle, but Gaius could tell he was trying to get Jude here to make the woman feel more comfortable. Although, in turn, Gaius started feeling extremely nervous, not that he let it show. "Ah! You mean Dr.Mathis! He really is incredible! I'm sure you'll be surprised at our progress! I'll go get him now!" Mary said enthusiastically and ran off. "Hoho, it's quite impressive how drastically admiration can change a person's attitude," Rowen chuckled. Gaius just stood there normally, although on the inside, a million thoughts were going through his head.

After just a few seconds, two figures were coming towards them. "Your Highness, Prime Minister, t-this is Jude Mathis!" Mary said catching her breath from running. Beside her was a young man. He hasn't changed at all, Gaius thought to himself. Of course, he changed his hair and was wearing more Elympion clothes than when they had last met, but other than that, his utterly flabberghasted look was still so him. Mary had probably dragged him over with a broken explanation. As Jude saw who was in front of him, he tried his best to regain his composure. "Ahem, welcome, Your Highness, Prime Minister Rowen. I thought you weren't coming today, so I wasn't here to greet you. You have my deepest appologies. If you wish, I can show you everything that's been going on around here now," He went on. Gaius couldn't help but feel kind of irritated at Jude's formality. They were friends, weren't they? ...Wait. Friends? Had they ever had that kind of relationship? Now that he thinks about it, most of their encounters were on opposing sides and the only good encounter they had was their last, and even then, hadn't Jude been talking to the king, not to him? Before his thoughts could jump any further, Rowen replied to Jude, "Now now, no need to be so formal! Today, we are here for our personal knowledge, not on official buisness," After this, Jude seemed to relax and Gaius was really glad Rowen was there. "So, where to first, Dr. Mathis?" Gaius asked. It really was weird to call him that, but he was worried that if he said his name, he might end up expressing more than he would like. It was at this time when Gaius noticed that Jude had completely reddened. "U-um, please, call me Jude, will you?" He said as he turned away. After that exchange, Jude started showing them around the laboratory, but Gaius found it hard to concentrate on anything other than the boy's red-tinted ears.

"And there you have it!" Jude exclaimed after they had went over everything. "If you'd like, I can go brew some tea and we can talk..." He said. "Of course, it won't be anything like what you make, Rowen!" He added. "That sounds delightful, Jude," Rowen replied. Gaius nodded, really happy he could stay longer with Jude. Although he'd never let it show. As they sat down and drank, they talked about the spyrite research some more before Rowen got up. "I have to go to the bathroom," He said. So there they were. Gaius was alone with Jude. For the first few minutes, it was really awkward until Jude tried to speak up. "So... how are you?" He asked. Oh man. The things he wanted to say. He wanted to say how much work he had, how he couldn't help but think about him. He wanted to say that today was the first time he'd ever spaced out during work just because he was going to see him. "Good." He ended up saying.

\- Have you been busy? Jude asked  
\- Yes. Gaius replied  
\- Oh yeah? What kind of work are you doing?  
\- Paperwork.  
\- You must not have had much rest, huh?  
\- No.

This conversation wasn't going anywhere. He really did want to talk to Jude, he just couldn't seem to get the words out of his mouth. He heard Jude sigh. "Look, I'll be honest, I was really nervous before you got here. I was scared of what we'd think of each other now, after all that happened," Jude chuckled to himself before continuing,''I'm really sorry to bother you with my petty worries, but I don't want anything to be misunderstood," Jude paused, "So, um, what do you think of me?" He finally asked. He looked away for a second, slowly coming back to meet Gaius' uncharacteristically dumbstruck gazes. Gaius could see the pleading in Jude's eyes for an answer.

"Ah...Um, well..." Gaius managed to say. He cleared his throat and he could see the surprise on Jude's face of this embarassing show of emotion. He shook his head and took a deep breath. "I..." He started. "Y-you don't have to answer if it really makes you uncomfortable! I'm sorry for putting you on the spot! The last thing I want is to make you uncomfortable..." Jude hurried nervously. "No. What I mean to say is," Gaius looked into Jude's eyes, "I love you,"

There was a painfully long and awkward silence that filled the room after that. "I think this concludes our buisness here. I have gotten a good idea of the spyrite project, so I think I will go find Rowen and we will leave immediately," Gaius finally managed to say. For Gaius, king of Rieze Maxia, he never had an issue with courage until he met Jude, who forced him to push to his limits just by speaking. He got up and hurried to the door. Just when he opened to door and tried to take a step forward, he felt something grabbing onto his coat. He looked back to see a very red Jude looking down and cligning on to him. "Jude?'' Gaius inquired. It wasn't a question, it was more to himself. Jude slowly looked into the eyes of the king. He was blushing up to his ears and looked like he was about to cry and Gaius couldn't help but think that it was the most seductive thing he had ever witnessed in his life.

He spun around to face Jude completely. Jude just grabbed the front of his coat and clung on for dear life. It took all of his willpower to not take the boy right then and there and kiss him. "What is it?" Gaius asked softly. "H-how do you always manage to crush my heart into tiny pieces every time we meet," Jude replied. Gaius looked at him, confused. Jude continued, "Why do you have to say such things... don't you know that it's killing me inside?" Gaius looked even more confused. "W-what I mean to say is.." Jude took a deep breath. "I love you too," he whispered. Gaius' face lit up in a second.

"What?'' He asked, hoping to hear it again. "I-I love...you," Jude said, a fraction louder than last time. That was the last straw. He took Jude in his arms and kissed him passionately. Jude was surprised at first but then started to kiss him back, melting into his embrace. Jude's lips were soft, gentle, but with a fiery need. Gaius' mind was completely filled with Jude and nothing else now, he didn't hear the footsteps heading towards the room. "Ahem, Your Highness, I fear we have to leave in a few minutes, please wrap up your buisness quickly," Both of the men spun around to the hallway where Balan, Jude's colleague that they had greeted during the tour, and Rowen were standing, smirking. By the look on their faces, Jude and Gaius knew that they were going to have to explain in full detail what was happening and get asked a million questions. They realized they were still gripping each other and let go almost immediately. "Well, you two have three more minutes, so have fun," Balan said cheerfully. The two spectators left after that in a bit too much of an amused haste.

"Gaius," Gaius locked eyes with the boy. "I..." He started. "You do not need to worry about distance, Jude, we will visit often and we will do this properly," Gaius interrupted, gentle. He could see Jude relax a little bit, but he was still worried about the distance. "I...um... I trust you... so I'll also make an effort..." Jude said, more to himself. Gaius felt himself smile, and he couldn't remember the last time he did that. Jude smiled back, more sure of himself. "Then... your GHS, give it to me," Jude said. Gaius was confused but he did as he was told. Jude took it and fiddled with it before handing it back. "There, now you have my number and I have yours," He said. Gaius didn't really know how to use a GHS, but he promised himself he would try to learn. He would see Jude as often as he could, and even if it's just for a second, he would treasure their time together.

"Time's up! Time to go!" Balan waltzed back in. Jude gestured Gaius to come closer. He turned away for a second before giving him a peck on the cheek and hurrying off. Gaius smiled again and left with Rowen. 

As he got back to Kanbalar, he couldn't help but think that the world around him seemed very vibrant once again.


End file.
